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Sound Publishing buys newspapers

The Snoqualmie Valley Record's parent company - Sound Publishing Inc. - bought two established community newspapers, a regional shopper and two monthly business publications.

Sound purchased from Sun News Inc. the weekly newspapers Marysville Globe and Arlington Times, the regional Express Shopper and monthly business publications the Wenatchee Business Journal and the Bellingham Business Journal. The purchase was effective Aug. 10.

The Marysville Globe and Arlington Times are two of the oldest community newspapers in Washington state. Both have been published since the 1890s and have received numerous awards for newspaper excellence. The Globe, Times and the Express Shopper circulate throughout the Marysville and Arlington regions north of Everett.

The monthly Wenatchee Business Journal and the Bellingham Business Journal serve their respective cities and Chelan and Whatcom counties with business news. They are the recipients of several Society of Professional Journalists awards.

Sun News Inc., owned by Bob and Debra Marshall and Kris and Catherine Passey, acquired the Globe and Times in 1997 and purchased the business monthlies in 2001. Kris Passey will continue to serve as both publisher of the community newspapers and supervisor of the business publications.

Sound president Manfred Tempelmayr said the new acquisitions strengthen the company's position in the Western Washington region.

"We are committed to the readers and advertisers in the Pacific Northwest and are excited to add these well-respected and established products. The former owners built a strong community connection with excellent newspapers and we intend to build on that strength," Tempelmayr said.

Sound is the largest publisher of community newspapers and shoppers in the Pacific Northwest. It owns more than 50 publications in the region with a weekly circulation of 850,000. It operates newspapers and business publications in the San Juan Islands, Whidbey Island, Kitsap County, Vashon Island and Tacoma and late last year - through its subsidiary King County Publications - acquired the Reporter newspaper group in King County, as well as the Mercer Island Reporter and Snoqualmie Valley Record. Sound also publishes the Little Nickel and Nickel Ads classified products in both Washington and Oregon.

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